Dalmia Bharat shares surge over 3% after Q2 profit

Shares of Dalmia Bharat Ltd climbed over 3% on Monday after the cement manufacturer reported an increase in net profit by 161.7% year-on-year to ₹123 crore in the September quarter, as against ₹47 crore in the same period last year. The company has also declared an interim dividend of ₹4 per share. 

During the session on Monday, the company's share price surged as much as 3.5% to hit an intraday high of ₹2,374.60 apiece on the BSE. The scrip opened higher at ₹2,315.30, up 0.97% as against the closing price of the previous session at ₹2,293. At the time of reporting, the share price of the cement manufacturer was trading 0.57% higher at ₹2,306. At present, the share price of the company is trading 5% lower than the 52-week high of ₹2,424.40, which the company touched on September 27, 2023. The share price of the cement manufacturer is trading 56% higher than the 52-week low of ₹1,478.05 crore, which the company touched on October 17, last year. During the early trade so far, the company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹43,150.74, with 17,847 shares exchanging hands on the BSE, as against the two-week average of 0.10 lakh shares.

In the September quarter, the company’s revenue from operations stood at ₹3,149 crore, up 6% year-on-year (YoY) as against ₹2,971 crore in the same period last year. The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased by 55.2% YoY to ₹589 crore during the quarter under review, as against ₹379 crore in the same period last year. In the September quarter, the company’s sales volume stood at 6.2 million tonnes (MnT), witnessing a growth of 6.6% as against 5.8 MnT in the same period last year.

"We see a multi‐year strong cement demand trend continuing, as India is undergoing a large‐scale metamorphosis. We were one of the first ones to foresee this upcycle and started building our capacity ahead of time. In the last 3.5 years, we have added ~17.2 MnT cement capacity, which is ~65% growth over FY20 capacity. In line with our vision to reach 110 ‐ 130Mnt by 2031, we are continuing to make consistent strides in that direction and capitalize upon the huge opportunity ahead of us," says Puneet Dalmia, MD & CEO, Dalmia Bharat Limited.

The company’s renewable energy consumption increased by 29% year-on-year (YoY) during the quarter under review. "With the reduction in fuel prices, increased usage of Renewable power and improvement in KPIs, we were able to deliver 55% YoY improvement in our EBITDA, which stands at ₹589 crore. During the first half of the year, we commissioned 5.1 MnT of cement and 0.5 MnT clinker capacity in the East and South regions. We continue to demonstrate our commitment towards the environment as we have further brought down our carbon footprint to 456 kg CO2 per ton of cement which is one of the lowest in the global cement sector," says Mahendra Singhi, MD & CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited.